Latest Blog Posts

Documentaries consist of a very small slice of total consumer entertainment. After a comment was made on the subject, Bill Hader joked about how he, Fred Armisen and Seth Meyers approached IFC, “You know those movies not a lot of people watch? We want to celebrate those.”

Of the two, Josienne Clarke basically does all the talking (she also does all the singing). Between their set at Hi-Fi earlier this year and the first of two nights at Rockwood, Ben Walker only offered a quiet affirmative to a comment Clarke made about sexual objectification being the band’s raison d’etre. He’s just super quiet while Clarke’s banter is laced with her sardonic wit. At Rockwood, when someone in the audience called out for a song, she shut the request down—if it wasn’t on the set list, it wouldn’t be played. She also aired several chips on her shoulder, which includes the “objectifying” lads, but said in Clarke’s gentle voice the audience might sense she’s (somewhat?) facetious.

Saul Williams may not directly challenge the status quo every day but an uprising is at core of his being. When he performed a free show for Summerstage in Marcus Garvey Park, Williams began his set late due to technical difficulties some of which continued through his set. However, with a simple stage arrangement, it was simply him and his a backup DJ/producer, Williams commanded attention at the park. When the music dropped out (due to audio issues?) he continued on and later, he inflamed the audience further from the crowd. With the lights low (and the sun down), Williams’ system challenging lyrics aligned with his MartyrLoserKing multimedia backdrop and allowed his message to be the center of attention. As an artist, a poet, an activist and more, Williams is steadfast on his principles and his music reflects his social and political views. Check out some photos and a couple of clips from his set below.

by Ana Yorke

After two days of alternating weather and headlining acts of alternating quality (I didn’t say this – the majority of reporters did, though), the third, or officially Day 1 of the Sziget Festival, brought about some much-needed guitar and alt-rock. The gargantuan pan-artistic event has been growing exponentially in the past 15 years or so, and this growth meant some difficult decisions regarding the nature of Main Stage(s) performers had to be made. Now that Sziget is indisputably one of the largest cultural events in the world, in order to sell enough tickets to support its magnificent 1,500-plus programs and 3,000-strong staff (seriously, major kudos to those people working around the clock so that we can feel at home), compromises have to be made, and that’s all right, business is business, after all. It is for this reason that the majority of the Main Stage headliners in recent years have been pop and club-house stars, and the good ol’ guitar had to, literally, forgo center stage, and settle for the large A38 tent, the epicenter of, in my opinion, best festival performances for some four years now.

Although the show hadn’t sold out, Garbage‘s performance at Summerstage was a treat for all those in attendance. With Kristin Kontrol (Dee Dee from the Dum Dum Girls) as their opener (it was Welchez’s second public New York City performance with the moniker) playing tracks from her debut X-Communicate, Garbage smashed through their catalog including the ‘90s classics “Stupid Girl” and “Push It”. But the offerings from their newest album Strange Little Birds were equally as exciting. Lead singer Shirley Manson was everywhere as she belted out “Empty” and “Even Though Our Love is Doomed”. Really though, Garbage brought tons of energy to the stage and ensured their fans that, at over twenty years in, they are not gonna be a nostalgia act any time soon. Check out photos from the show below and additional tour dates from Garbage as well.